Useful Books: English Churches, Abbeys & Priories

 

 
I have more than the usual six in this list. There would even be a lot more if I included local specific books, but I'll keep those to go into that category another time. I'm not sure why I have more of these. However, they seem to be more readily available than other kinds of old buildings books and when I started adding churches to my visits I needed to do a fair bit of research to catch up.

Rice's Church Primer by Matthew Rice

Pub: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2013

ISBN: 978 1 4088 0752 1

Matthew Rice's books are so amazing, full of his own illustrations and explanations of every aspect of church architecture. The drawings are such a delight, including the occasional people and the odd dog.

For someone like me, who has a hard time remembering the different ages and dates in architecture (although I'm getting better), each one is set out in a separate chapter. From the Saxon and Norman to Modern times, every kind of fitting, monument and even the style of jug and chalice is explored.

There are also maps of British areas, ie. The North, etc, where the best examples of churches are highlighted and a section where his drawings of some named churches are shown. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes visiting churches and want to learn more about what they see.

Another very useful book is this next one, containing a lot of information, some of which I haven't found elsewhere together in one book.

How To Read A Church by Richard Taylor

Pub: Rider, Ebury Press 2003

ISBN: 1 8441 3953 3

It's quite unusual because as well as the kind of interior fittings and fixtures found in most books, there are also chapters explaining those things that symbolise various aspects and peoples of Christianity, such as John the Baptist and Mary. I've read about half, mainly about the usual information such as the layout, and meaning to read the rest another time...which I haven't done so far and looking forward to finishing!

Due to the difficulty in keeping the page open, and unable to hold it down, I resorted to using some stones from the beach as paperweights.* You'll come across some more in a bit!

*That sounds as if I went to the beach deliberately for them, lol, but they are actually part of a collection in little rafia baskets and the nearest thing to hand by the chair which I use for photographing the books.

Mostly the written work with some line drawings of symbols, there are a few black & white photos, as seen below.

The next book is one I haven't read yet, apart from looking through and reading odd snippets. It is a really beautiful book with many fabulous full colour and black & white photos.

The Church Explorer's Handbook by Clive Fewins

Pub: Canterbury Press 2005

ISBN: 1 85311 622 X

Again, this one is full of information about both the exterior and interior of churches, including the churchyard, tombs and graves, etc. As well as the many photos there are also diagrams and other line drawings. Also lists of all the churches in Scotland and in the counties of England, which is really useful.

Part One contains the church from the outside and external features, Part Two is the basic church design and architecture, Part Three is the interior with all the various features and fittings and Part Four is the churchyard and what to look for.

This next book is a really interesting read and, like the previous one, the photos are incredibly lovely. 

Medieval Church Architecture by Jon Cannon

Pub: Shire Publications 2014

ISBN: 13 978 0 74781 212 8

Again, we have the different styles throughout the age of church building from the Anglo-Saxon and Normanesque up to the Gothic, including chapters on each stage: Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular.

There is also a chronology of styles on a chart at the back of the book, which is very useful - especially for people like me who can't remember dates! Each hundred years from 1000 to 1600, it shows the different styles of arches, vaults, windows, foliage/capitals and other decorative motifs.

This next is one I almost forgot about. I have read and found it useful. Unfortunately, when I opened it again several pages came out and the spine is very fragile. Otherwise it's a good book for information and a great many photos.

Discovering Abbeys and Priories by Geoffrey N Wright

Pub: Shire Publications 2014

ISBN: 978 0 74780 589 2

The first part of the book deals with chapters covering the earliest monasteries, the monastic orders, the officers and the layout of the monastery, their daily life and the Dissolution.

The rest of the book is a gazeteer of the principal monasteries throughout Britain, both those remaining intact and those whose ruins are still extant, together with photos of most of them. It's not only interesting but also very useful as to what can be seen, including the opening dates where appropriate.

Now for three books by Trevor Yorke, who's so prolific and has such well researched subjects that I have 24 of his books and there are still some I haven't bought yet.

English Churches Explained by Trevor Yorke

Pub: Countryside Books 2010

ISBN: 978 1 84674 191 3

Filled with several photos on every page, as well as his own illustrations and diagrams, Section I is about churches through the ages from 600 to 1900 AD, from the Saxon & Norman to the Victorian inclusive, encompassing everything in between. Section II is all about the details of the church both inside and out.

Section III is much shorter but has an interesting reference guide to dating churches, other reference sources, a timechart with illustrations of arches, doors and windows, etc, by which to date by. Also a list of places to visit and a glossary of terms.

A book specifically about Abbeys coming up next. This and the next Trevor Yorke book contain only black & white photos, but there is still the same concentration of many pictures, including diagrams and his own drawings as well as photos.

The English Abbey Explained by Trevor Yorke

Pub: Countryside Books 2004

ISBN: 1 85306 854 3

Another book about abbeys, monasteries and priories, it follows the same format as the previous book, starting with Section I: The History of Abbeys. leading up to and beyond the Dissolation of the monasteries with the use some were used for. Again, the book is full of many photos with several on each page, as well as his own illustrations. 

Section II concerns the details of the abbey buildings, concluding with the estates and other remains that can be seen in the landscape today. A reference guide is provided in Section III, along with a time chart, those remaining buildings that can be visited and a glossary of terms. All useful stuff! :)

The following one is particularly interesting for those who like exploring graveyards and cemeteries.

Gravestones, Tombs & Memorials by Trevor Yorke

Pub: Countryside Books 2010

ISBN: 978 1 84674 202 6

This is a thinner book than the previous two, but still full of interesting information, many photos on each page plus his own illustrations. Starting with a brief history of burial in Chapter One, the remaining chapters include gravestones, ledgers, chest tombs, monuments, symbols, imagery, inscriptions and epitaphs.

Further information contains how to locate graves, date gravestones and interesting graveyards to visit, as well as a glossary and bibliography. A very useful book and enjoyable to read.

And now for a bonus one. Although it's specific to Devon, it's the only cathedral book I have (apart from an excellent guide to Exeter cathedral, which I will place into the local/regional category of useful books), and might be of interest to anyone who likes to visit cathedrals. It is also one of the most interesting books I've read and with some very amusing anecdotes researched from the Mediaeval Rolls held in the archives.

Exeter Cathedral As It Was 1050-1550 by Nicholas Orme

Pub: Devon Books 1986

ISBN: 0 86114 785 5

Mostly the written word, there are a few black & white photos along with the odd diagram and illustration. The drawing above shows the Mediaeval College of Vicars Choral and their dwellings leading to it. Below is one of Broad Gate in 1822, one of seven gates leading into and defending the Close against the city. This one was the chief entrance for the King and bishops.

The early drawing below - circa 1584 - belonged to the Exeter Town Clerk  & Historian John Hooker. Full of amazing facts and anecdotes, this is one of my favourite books. Here's a snippet:

"Not only was the cemetery scruffy, it was disfigured by secular activities which we would not think at all suitable for consecrated ground. Games were played among the graves, for some people have always regarded the Close as a recreation area. The authorities* apparently tolerated this, since games were forbidden only near the buildings, where there was a risk of damage to the walls or windows. Even the clergy joined in, and when John Forn got into trouble in 1386 for playing a game with laymen in the cemetery, the fact that he was playing seems to have mattered less than his absence from cathedral matins!"

*That's the church authorities, because the city authorities had no jurisdiction in the cathedral grounds, which was a separate city within the city.

There we go! Nine books about our religious historical and architectural past.

As mentioned at the end of the previous post I've now taken more photos of Fore Street in Beer village. How it came about was such a highlight after a really difficult year; my lovely niece and nephew-in-law visited from Australia. 

They had several places to visit, so they only stayed in my area for a couple of days. However, we went out and they took me to lunch at the Anchor Inn in Beer. Before that we had a walk up Fore Street so I had the opportunity to take some of the photos of buildings that I'd previously missed. Such a lovely day and really fabulous to see them.

So, part four of Fore Street was going to be the next article, but I think I'm going to get back over there again to take the rest of the photos first. I'll see how it goes. Meanwhile I have a few bits and pieces to get going with, so I'm not going to commit myself to what's coming up next yet.

Happy Autumn, everyone. :)

 

Dartmoor Training Centre, Dartmoor Forest, Devon

 

This isn't about the buildings as such, but instead it's an article documenting four days spent on a training course here in 1991. In fact, the above photo is the only decent one of the building itself and that was taken right at the end before our journey back, along with the one below.

I have a lot of these photos - all black and white - as I was taking a City & Guilds module in Photography that year, and I intended using them to make a photo documentary for my finished project. As it happens, I chose another topic consisting of interesting buildings around Exeter instead. Architectural photographer in the making!

Set in the beautiful Devon countryside, the centre is next to the West Dart River and the nearest town is Princetown.

Interestingly, the bridge across the river is called Prince Hall Bridge and is a Grade II Listed Building. You can just about see its single span arch through the trees, seen below. A build of granite, which is plentiful on Dartmoor, it was erected circa late 18th or early 19th century.

Although it was only four days in duration, the course was jam packed with adventure activities; outdoor ones during the day plus two evenings for an optional night walk - one of which I went on and thoroughly enjoyed - video evenings for those who stayed in and an evening at The Plume of Feathers pub in Princetown to play skittles.

 

We arrived just after monday lunchtime, were put into smaller groups and did some problem solving in the afternoon. Then in the evening we had the first night walk. A really useful idea was numbering the participants instead of using our names, so every now and then we were stopped and had to say our numbers in sequence to ensure no-one was lost or wandered off. It was much quicker and easier than trying to remember names or match them to a list.

Self-catering, each group took it in turns to cook meals and make lunchpacks for everyone.  Our first full day was on the tuesday, and it was our turn in the kitchen, so our morning activity was close to home and consisted of problem solving involving two suspended cannisters. The object was to make the top cannister heavier and displace the bottom one, seen in the photos above and below.

After lunch we walked around the forest by Belvador Tor where we practiced orienteering and had other problem solving activities. Dartmoor is famous for the sparse countryside with tors, which are hills topped with granite boulders where erosion has brought them to the surface. and its own brand of half-wild ponies. However, there are also forests and smaller woods along with farm land and a more typically British countryside. It's a very large National Park.

 

These first set of photos were really bad, which is probably why I decided not to use them as my C&G project after all, plus I wasn't able to take photos of everything whilst participating in some of the activities.

This particular evening was the pub visit, which was good fun playing skittles and an opportunity to socialise with others on the course.

Then on the Wednesday we went kyaking on the River Dart, which I absolutely loved, followed by raft building in the afternoon. I have no photos from that day as I didn't want to risk my camera on the water, so I just concentrated on enjoying it instead. In the evening we had a project of making a video, which was a bit of a taster before my university course of Media Arts & Design Arts in the coming Autumn.

Then the last activity day on the Thursday was called Operation Buzzard. Our groups were mixed up so that we could work with some different people as well as activities we hadn't tried so far.

Oh absolute terror! Those who've read a lot of my blog articles might know that I am horrendously acrophobic. I can't even stand on a stool without getting vertigo! Anyway, our first activity was abseiling, lol.

This was abseiling down from Hay Tor and once we'd climbed up I really didn't want to go down. It took the instructor some time to cajole me into doing it and even came down partway - without ropes! - to start me off.

Once near the ground I didn't stop until I was actually lying on my back on the grass. If I remember rightly I was crying my eyes out all the way down so it was such a relief!

In the afternoon we went to the quarry near Hay Tor to make a raft, using what we'd learnt the afternoon before. Once built we took it in turns to be pulled across the quarry pond on the raft.

 

Some of our group in the above photos at Hay Tor having lunch and a break between activities, including Ian who was our leader from Devon Training For Skills who organised the course.

Us participants were undertaking a year course of employment training with jobs and training provided by local companies. This break on Dartmoor was to help bolster self-confidence and a very welcome opportunity to do things we probably wouldn't normally do. Like abseiling, lol!

It was a really enjoyable activity and I took a lot of photos.

 

I also took a photo of this old winch left here from quarrying. I didn't know at the time but there were also rails nearby for the trucks carrying the quarry stone away.

After that we went caving. I didn't appreciate the climb down into it very much, although I loved it otherwise, and enjoyed exploring limestone caves some 17 years later during my urbexing days.

At some point (probably after abseiling) I had a photo taken of just myself and then with the group. I honestly can't remember how the camera was set up or if someone else took it for us, but it was really good to have that record. 

 

On that evening was another night walk, which I didn't take part in. Instead those who stayed in enjoyed watching videos, including The Terminator, which I hadn't seen before. 

Then the next day was the morning clean-up. This photo is one of my all-time favourites and the best from this week.

And one with the ubiquitous 'rabbit ears'.

And then the journey back to Exeter. Once there I went straight to the Exeter Darkroom and developed my films. Although the course was only four days long it felt really weird to be on my own whilst walking through town. A fantastic week, which I'll forever be grateful for.

This one took rather a long time to do, what with editing and re-editing to get it right. Thankfully, I still have the diary from that year and was able to check out which days and activities matched. The funniest thing was a coincidence with a picture in my Winnie-The-Poo diary with lovely illustrations from the original books by Ernest H. Shepherd. You might not believe this, and I didn't know about it until I wrote it up afterwards, so I scanned the diary and appropriate pages.

(Some of my thoughts and the weekend concerning family stuff was personal so I blanked them out with black strips of paper. Redacted!)

Anyway, here it is at the top of the page below; an illustration of Piglet abseiling. Brilliant! :)

And there we have it!

This time I know exactly what's coming up next as I've also been working on that one at the same time; another Useful Books article about English churches, abbeys, priories & cathedrals. The main body of writing is almost done and I've taken the photos, which I've started post-editing, so it won't be too long before getting that one up.

I've also finally taken some more Fore Street, Beer photos. More about that at the end of the next post. The last day of September and I hope everyone's having a great Autumn, despite whatever's happening in the world; enjoy nature if you can and all best wishes until next time. :)